The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 eBook

ruthlessly covered that carless youth, fighting single-handed
with them, with showers of arrows. Bowless and
carless, with an eye, however, to his duty (as a warrior),
handsome Abhimanyu, taking up a sword and a shield,
jumped into the sky. Displaying great strength
and great activity, and describing the tracks called
Kausika and others, the son of Arjuna fiercely coursed
through the sky, like the prince of winged creatures
(viz., Garuda.). ‘He may fall upon me sword
in hand,’ with such thoughts, those mighty bowmen,
were on the lookout for the laches of Abhimanyu, and
began to pierce him in that battle, with their gaze
turned upwards. Then Drona of mighty energy,
that conqueror of foes with a sharp arrow quickly
cut off the hilt, decked with gems, of Abhimanyu’s
sword. Radha’s son Karna, with sharp shafts,
cut off his excellent shield. Deprived of his
sword and shield thus, he came down, with sound limbs,
from the welkin upon the earth. Then taking up
a car-wheel, he rushed in wrath against Drona.
His body bright with the dust of car-wheels, and himself
holding the car-wheel in his upraised arms, Abhimanyu
looked exceedingly beautiful, and imitating Vasudeva
(with his discus), became awfully fierce for a while
in that battle. His robes dyed with the blood
flowing (from his wounds), his brow formidable with
the wrinkles visible thereon, himself uttering loud
leonine roars, lord Abhimanyu of immeasurable might,
staying in the midst of those kings, looked exceedingly
resplendent on the field of battle.’”

SECTION XLVII

“Sanjaya said, ’That joy of Vishnu’s
sister (viz., Abhimanyu), that Atiratha, decked with
the weapons of Vishnu himself, looked exceedingly
beautiful on the field of battle and looked like a
second Janardana. With the end of his locks waving
in the air, with that supreme weapon upraised in his
hands, his body became incapable of being looked at
by the very gods. The kings beholding it and
the wheel in his hands, became filled with anxiety,
and cut that off in a hundred fragments. Then
that great car-warrior, the son of Arjuna, took up
a mighty mace. Deprived by them of his bow and
car and sword, and divested also of his wheel by his
foes, the mighty-armed Abhimanyu (mace in hand) rushed
against Aswatthaman. Beholding that mace upraised,
which looked like the blazing thunderbolt, Aswatthaman,
that tiger among men, rapidly alighted from his car
and took three (long) leaps (for avoiding Abhimanyu).
Slaying Aswatthaman’s steeds and two Parshni
charioteers with that mace of his, Subhadra’s
son, pierced all over with arrows, looked like a porcupine.
Then that hero pressed Suvala’s son, Kalikeya,
down into the earth, and stew seven and seventy Gandhara
followers of the latter. Next, he slew ten car-warriors
of the Brahma-Vasatiya race, and then ten huge elephants.
Proceeding next towards the car of Duhsasana’s
son, he crushed the latter’s car and steeds,